Republicans have successfully pushed an anti-abortion bill through the New Hampshire House of Representatives that would require doctors to lie to women in order to scare them from having an abortion.

The bill, known as HB 1659, not only requires women to wait a mandatory 24 hours before having an abortion, it also requires doctors to give them false information by telling them that abortion cause breast cancer. The bill, sponsored by GOP Rep. Jeanine Notter, states:

“e) Materials that inform the pregnant woman that there is a direct link between abortion and breast cancer. It is scientifically undisputed that full-term pregnancy reduces a woman’s lifetime risk of breast cancer. It is also undisputed that the earlier a woman has a first full-term pregnancy, the lower her risk of breast cancer becomes, because following a full-term pregnancy the breast tissue exposed to estrogen through the menstrual cycle is more mature and cancer resistant. In fact, for each year that a woman’s first full-term pregnancy is delayed, her risk of breast cancer rises 3.5 percent. The theory that there is a direct link between abortion and breast cancer builds upon this undisputed foundation. During the first and second trimesters of pregnancy the breasts develop merely by duplicating immature tissues. Once a woman passes the thirty-second week of pregnancy (third trimester), the immature cells develop into mature cancer resistant cells. When an abortion ends a normal pregnancy, the woman is left with more immature breast tissue than she had before she was pregnant. In short, the amount of immature breast tissue is increased and this tissue is exposed to significantly greater amounts of estrogen—a known cause of breast cancer. Women facing an abortion decision have a right to know that such medical data exists. At the very least, women must be informed that it is undisputed that pregnancy provides a protective effect against the later development of breast cancer.”

According to the Huffington Post, Notter believes “that abortion would cause spaces in breast duct tissue to allow for the growth of cancer cells. She said she believed birth control pills lead to the same issue. Notter last month also said that she believed that birth control pills taken by women cause prostate cancer in their male children.”

The claim that abortions cause breast cancer is a false theory developed by anti-abortion advocates as a way to scare women into deciding against abortion. According to ThinkProgress, organizations such as the National Institutes of Health, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the ???American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the World Health Organization, and the American Cancer Society all dispute the claim as bogus because there is absolutely no scientifically proven link between abortion and breast cancer.

But that isn’t stopping Republicans from forcing doctors to spread such misinformation as true. Republicans in Kansas have passed the same kind of bill, as has Texas and Alaska. Oklahoma Republicans are also pushing similar bills. Even Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum is pushing the lie as part of his war against women’s health. Republicans are now so desperate to stop abortion that they have to invent lies and force doctors to repeat them. This breast cancer lie reminds me of the whole ‘masturbating will make you go blind’ lie that parents used to tell their kids to scare them from exploring their sexuality. Even though that theory is also a complete and utter lie that has no scientific proof, I bet Republicans still say that to their kids.

This bill is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Doctors are forbidden by law to tell lies to their patients. This legislation will ultimately cause women to not trust their doctors which is wrong on so many levels. Republicans are trying to sell this bill as an ‘informed consent’ bill or a ‘right to know’ bill. The GOP seems to feel that women are stupid and don’t know anything about pregnancy, as if women don’t already learn about it in sex education or biology. If women want more information, they’ll ask their doctor for it. They don’t need information, especially false information, to be forced upon them as if they are children who need to be lectured or scared. By passing this bill, Republicans are saying it’s legal for doctors to lie to their patients as long as it’s for a conservative cause. This is a new tactic being used in the Republican war against women and it should cause the defeat of all Republicans this November. How much lower do Republicans have to sink to convince everyone that they aren’t capable of governing anymore?